Decline of the hemoglobin adduct of 4-aminobiphenyl during withdrawal from smoking.
The hemoglobin adduct of the human bladder carcinogen 4-aminobiphenyl (4ABP-Hb) declined in the blood of 34 smokers enrolled in a withdrawal program, from a mean of 120 +/- 7 (SE) pg/g of hemoglobin at the start to a mean of 82 +/- 6 pg/g after 3 weeks and a mean of 34 +/- 5 pg/g among the 15 exsmokers who had not resumed smoking after 2 months. Although 4ABP-Hb declined faster than expected under the assumption that the human erythrocyte has a life span of 120 days, it persisted much longer than cotinine. Therefore, 4ABP-Hb may complement the use of cotinine as a marker of exposure to tobacco smoke. The strength of the within-person association of 4ABP-Hb with smoking, coupled with the weakness of the between-person association (correlation coefficient, 0.33), is evidence that between-person variation in modifying factors is substantial. Study of the modifiers of 4ABP-Hb levels may help elucidate the etiology of human susceptibility to aromatic amine-induced bladder cancer.
Maclure
M
M
Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
Bryant
M S
MS
Skipper
P L
PL
Tannenbaum
S R
SR
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D003367:Cotinine / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood*; D013997:Time Factors
D015415:Biomarkers; D006454:Hemoglobins; C062091:hemoglobin, 4-aminobiphenyl-; D003367:Cotinine